


Inflaming the Senses

by sparkyCSI (Lexi_the_dragon_muse)



Category: CSI: NY
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-10
Updated: 2013-05-09
Packaged: 2017-12-10 23:01:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/791188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lexi_the_dragon_muse/pseuds/sparkyCSI
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Senses. Any of the faculties by which stimuli from outside or inside the body are received and felt, as the faculties of hearing, sight, smell, touch, and taste. Please R&R!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Sight

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own anything here but my own thoughts. Really, if I did do you think I would be sitting on my couch in Texas! All belongs to the fab people at CBS who bring us CSI: NY every week! I wish I was one of them!!!

** Chapter 1.  Sight **

 

_Sight.  The ability to see.  Mental perception or consideration.  An opportunity to observe or inspect.  Something worth seeing; a spectacle._

 

 

Detective Danny Messer was a scientist.  He believed in things that you could see and understand with your senses.  He gave little thought to emotions, for you couldn’t measure them.  At least, that’s what he thought.

 

When he got the call to go to the zoo, he knew that the new CSI was going to be there.  He was prepared to hate them.  He would hate anyone that replaced Aiden.  Aiden and Danny were close, tight.  Like brother and sister.  Sure, he had aspirations of dating her, who didn’t?  She was a gorgeous woman who shot him down before he could even make an overture.  He loved her for it.  She could have been mean, a bitch even, but she wasn’t.  She let him down easy.  He considered her one of his best friends.  _Damn.  Why did she have to get herself fired!!!_

 

So Danny walked towards the scene, completely prepared to hate the new person.  No one could replace Aiden.  Not in work, not in his heart.

 

Sighing as he arrived at the zoo, he grabbed his case out of his truck and walked to the tiger enclosure.  As he walked his eyes automatically flicked over every women present, mentally checking them out.  He told himself that it was just because he was a cop.  He was trained to observe.  And observe he did.

 

When he got into the enclosure, he caught sight of an unknown woman, talking to Mac.  _That must be the replacement.  Damn!  Why did Mac have to choose a woman?_   He observed them, his subconscious noting that the woman was very attractive.  He appreciated the look of the woman from behind.  When he came up behind her he heard in her voice how much she was trying to impress Mac.

 

Danny smirked as Mac walked away.  He couldn’t resist a good hazing.  “Always call him sir.”

 

She looked up and he fell into a pair of wise chocolate brown eyes.  His heart skipped at the emotion that hit him.  Ruthlessly he stomped down on the emotion, upset with himself for feeling that way.  He just smirked and left her alone, wondering how soon she would irritate Mac.

 

He watched her in the lab, processing the evidence.  He felt a certain satisfaction at watching her fumble around in the unfamiliar environment.  He gallantly offered to help her, but his offer was refused coolly.  _So she’s upset with the joke.  Oh, well._

The sight of her having to process the tiger’s feces made him very happy.  _I couldn’t have thought of a better way to haze a newbie!  This is perfect._   His happiness was tempered by the discovery of just how competent she was.  He hated to admit it, but she was a damn good CSI.

 

After talking with Mac later, he discovered that this seemingly frail woman took down a man who had a good eight inches and sixty pounds on her.  Appearances can be deceiving, he found out.  Sight is a very easily fooled sense.  Magicians do it all the time with their magic tricks.  He had the brief thought that she might be a magician; for all that she looked like the magicians assistant.  _Of course,_ he thought, _the magician’s assistant is responsible for making the trick seem real.  That’s all this is.  It’s an illusion._

 

So he decided to try to distant her from himself, by calling her Montana.  He perversely enjoyed the way she cringed whenever he called her that.  He watched her reactions, not realizing that he was letting emotion rule.

 

Weeks go by.  He realized that he was starting to like her as a friend.  He still remembers seeing the expression on her face at the way he grabbed her hand outside of the doll hospital.  He realized that the sight of her was beginning to brighten his day, but he tried hard to let it go.

 

Then they found the dead body in Giants Stadium.  He didn’t know what to think when she paged him 911.  When he walked up to her in the hall, he saw a look of confusion on her face.  Then she showed him the results.  He still doesn’t understand why she brought this to him first.  _She went out on a limb for me.  Why?_   He saw her outside of Mac’s office when he was relieved of duty.  He knew everyone else was there, but he only saw her.

 

The question nagged him throughout the day, but was quickly forgotten when he learned about Louie.  When she brought him the tape to listen to, he remembers seeing only her eyes.  Eyes that could make him forget all the pain that he was feeling.  She told him with a look that she was there for him if he wanted.

 

The thought scared him.  He backed off, going back to being the cool playboy.  _Can’t let myself become involved.  Can’t let myself become involved._   He doesn’t realize that he already is.

 

After the woman from Montana was murdered, he saw a well known look in her eyes.  Incomprehension.  She needed to hear why, but he could only give her a look of encouragement as he told her that finding a reason is not always possible.  He told her to let it go, but he knew by her look that she would not be able to.  Silently he gave her the look that told her that he was there for her.  Secretly he hoped that she would take him up on the offer.

 

A month went by.  He heard about the bomb going off.  He was scared.  He knew that Mac, Flack and Lindsay were at the scene.  He told himself that they would be alright.  Then he walked up to the scene.  The destruction astounded him.

 

When he caught sight of her, his heart stopped.  She was bleeding.  The sight of blood on her face scared and angered him at once.  He stops to listen to her talk, reassuring himself that she was fine.

 

That night, at the hospital, he watched her.  He looked at her and said the words on his mind all day.  “Still want that ride?”

 

\---------------------------------------------------

 

Lindsay Monroe was a methodical woman.  She was also someone who was in touch with her feelings.  She felt that it gave her more power.  She tried not to dwell too much on something that she could not change, but occasionally there were some feelings that she could not deny.

 

She knew that it was going to be one of those days when she got the call from her new supervisor to meet him at the New York Zoo.  She loved animals, so she was interested to see the zoo, even if she was working.  She didn’t expect what she found.

 

She was investigating the scene when she felt someone come up behind her.  She turned to see an extremely handsome man standing behind her.  When he introduced himself, she was astounded that she would be working closely with him.

 

Her fascination quickly turned to annoyance when she realized the trick he had played on her, telling her to call Mac sir.  She controlled her anger at the childish prank and strove to complete her job in a professional manner.

 

Her annoyance rose when he arrogantly asked if he could help her in the lab.  The sight of him smirking rose her hackles.  She quickly brushed him off, telling him that she would be fine.

 

When they got their next case, she quickly saw the methodical scientist in him come out.  It perplexed her.  She was quickly becoming accustomed to his little smirk.  But all she saw when she looked at him was a player.  She stubbornly told her heart not to get attached.

 

She soon learned that the player front he put on was so that the rest of the world could not see the real him.  She enjoyed surprising him with her knowledge of what Mac did on Wednesday nights.  She was surprised that he had not seen the truth for himself.

 

Months passed and she found herself becoming friends with him.  She knew that when people saw them together there were murmurs that they were dating.  She knew better than anyone else that looks could be deceiving.  _I wonder.  What is he hiding?_

 

She found the answer to her question, much too soon.  She stared at the DNA results, unbelieving.  She reran the test four times before she realized that it would do no good.  _I better talk to him about this._   So she paged him with a 911.  She had him meet her in a deserted corridor.  She saw the look of confusion on his face when he asked her what was going on.  She told him.  Then she showed him the results.  She watched as he got a hard look on his face and asked if she had told anyone else.  The question astounded her.  _Why would I tell anyone else?_   She replied that she had not and he took the results with him as he walked to Mac’s office.

 

She stood outside with everyone else as she watched them take his gun and badge.  Anger welled up inside of her at the sight.  As he turned and looked out the glass, she locked eyes with him, silently trying to tell him that she was there for him.  She felt frustrated.  She thought that she knew him better.  _Mama always said that looks could be deceiving.  But she also taught me to trust my gut.  My gut tells me that he didn’t do it._

 

When she found out about his brother, her heart broke for him.  When she got the tape from the hospital, she quickly tried to get it to work.  When she heard the tape, she knew her gut was right.

 

Mac went to the hospital, but she took a copy of the tape.  She knew that he needed to know what his brother did for him.  When he listened to the tape, she watched him struggle to suppress his feelings.  He was still trying to put up a brave front.  She told him that she would be there for him, if he needed her.  _Please take me up on the offer.  No one else will understand.  I will.  There are things that I like to keep out of sight, too.  Out of sight, out of mind._

 

She was disappointed when she saw him outside of the hospital with Mac.  Sighing at the sight, she turned and left.

 

A few scant weeks later, she watched in horror as Hawkes showed them that the facial reconstruction of Aiden.  She watched the team, for their varying reactions.  Danny looked like he was ready to kill someone.  She saw a pure unadulterated rage cross his face and a light went on above her head.  _He’s in love with her.  That’s why he doesn’t act on the flirting.  Damn._

 

She thought back to every time she had talked to him about Aiden.  She realized that the look of love had always been present.  She had just chosen to ignore it.  She decided to dash her hopes right then.

 

She had been successful for a month in suppressing her emotions.  Then when she saw the sight of destruction of the building that had just been blown up, the emotions broke.  Fear overtaking her, she tried to call Mac over and over, with no response.

 

She looked up and saw Stella and Danny making their way towards her.  She babbled something to Stella, but when she looked into Danny’s eyes, she felt herself fall.  He was worried about her, that much she saw before he walked away.  Realizing after he left, he had told her to take care of her head, she walked over to the EMT’s who quickly put a bandage on it.

 

Later, when they were working in the lab, she realized that he was calling her Lindsay, not Montana.  She smiled inside.  Realized that she was still shaking, she made an off chance comment about not wanting to take the subway home.  She smiled; a light coming to her eyes when he offered to take her home.  She agreed.

 

Later in the hospital, her spirits dropped at the sight of Flack lying in the bed.  He looked like death warmed over.  The rest of the team was there, but they decided to stay at the hospital in shifts.  She looked deep into Danny’s eyes as he asked her, “Still want that ride?”

 

She murmured yes and they left the hospital.

 

 


	2. Hearing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own anything here but my own thoughts. Really, if I did do you think I would be sitting on my couch in Texas! All belongs to the fab people at CBS who bring us CSI: NY every week! I wish I was one of them!!!

** Chapter 2.  Hearing **

 

_Hearing.  To perceive (sound) by the ear, to learn by hearing; be told by others, to listen to attentively, to receive news or information._

 

 

Danny had never thought much about hearing.  It was a natural thing to do.  But after he had met Lindsay, he found himself thinking a great deal about sound and hearing. 

 

At first, it had started by just hearing her voice.  He consoled himself that it was just because she did not sound like anyone else.  Why else would he enjoy the sound of her voice?  It certainly not because he had feelings for her, he told himself.

 

When Mac told him that she had taken down a suspect, he was skeptical.  He had never heard of a female CSI doing that before.  He tried to talk to her about it after he found out, but she brushed it off.

 

He was impressed by her knowledge of music when they worked the case of the high school student who was having the affair with the older man.  “How did you know that the music was from _Wicked_ , Montana?”

 

She smiled.  “Music keeps me company, Messer.  You should try it sometime.  Broaden your horizons.”

 

He laughed.  He was beginning to love sparring words with her.  Hearing.  Just hearing the sound of her voice, whether it be something about work or a hidden barb with her, he was beginning to become addicted.

 

It had become a habit.  Bantering with her.  He liked it.  He always tried to come up with something witty for her, knowing that she would not let him down.

 

When he was trapped in the panic room, he felt her voice urging him on in his head.  Mentally, while he processed the evidence, he thought about everything he would say to her if she was the one trapped, not him.  He would try to make her laugh.  _I really love the sound of her laugh.  Love?  What am I saying?  Gawd, being trapped in here has rattled my senses._   The sound of his phone constantly ringing had been grating on his nerves. 

 

He remembered the case where he made fun of her for knowing a song from _Wicked._ She had said that music had kept her company.  He never realized that those words would save his life.  But there he had it.  He recognized the ring tone on the locksmith’s cell phone.  If he could only bring himself to tell her how she saved his life.

 

Only weeks later, he had gotten the sound of her voice out of his head.  He saw a pretty girl on the subway home, but unfortunately life decided to intrude.  Instead of asking the woman out, he found a dead body instead.

 

He was studying the scene with Mac when he heard the sound of her shoes.  He turned and looked at her in fascination.  He couldn’t help but say, “Well hello Ms. Monroe.  Ya clean up nice.”  He listened to her murmured response, shivering at the huskiness in her voice.

 

He had never heard that quality in her voice before and he longs now to hear more.  _Wow.  That just blew me away._   He tried to blow it off, but it lingered in the back of his mind throughout the night.

 

Finally, he got to go home.  “Ya gotta be kidding me!” Danny noticed the same woman from the subway before.  He smirked.  _This outta take my mind off of_ _Montana_ _._

 

He was wrong.  The relationship didn’t last beyond that night.  Disturbed, he realized that the only thing he had on his mind was her.  So he tried to cover it up when he worked with her.   The next case they worked together made it especially easy to flirt harmlessly.

 

He loved hearing her gasp of shock when he asked her if she wanted to see ‘Rough Sects’.  It was a play on words that he could not pass up.  She surprised him when she asked him to go to Cozy’s.

 

He entered the jazz club, talking in the ambience of the music.  He saw her from across the room and walked over to her.  He was confused when she said, “I ordered a beer for you.”  He noticed a different quality to her voice.  It was softer, more alluring.  He found himself taken in by her voice.  It sent shivers up his spine.  He was still confused when she told him that he didn’t know everything about Mac.   His confusion was broken when he heard Mac on stage.

 

The sound of Mac’s voice brought him back to reality.  He realized that she hadn’t brought him there to deal with the rising tension between them; she had brought him there to prove a point.  Still, he wasn’t one to pass up an opportunity.  They talked that night, really talked.  He learned about her family and her life back in Montana.  He told her a little about growing up in New York City.  He failed to mention anything having to do with Tanglewood.

 

The next week, he made the mistake of betting against her.  _How could I have known that any person would eat those bugs?!  I can’t believe she cost me twenty bucks.  Should have known better than to bet against a country girl.  Especially after she told me about_ _Montana_ _._

 

A couple of days later, he was pleased and shocked about her offer to buy him drinks if he helped her with her case.  He didn’t know what to think when she told him that he would have to carry her.  He decided to pass off his uncertainty of being able to control himself by telling her, “I know you promised me drinks for this, Montana.  But I think I’m gonna need dinner, too.”

 

He loved the sound of her laugh.  Then she called him cowboy.  _Cowboy??  Do I look like a cowboy?_

 

The opportunity to banter with her became the highlight of his day.  He was truly coming to look forward to any moments spent with her, whether it was on a case or just talking in their office.

 

She still managed to surprise him, though.  He almost fell off his chair when she asked him about phone sex.  He was sure his overheated brain was just playing tricks on him, so he asked her what.  She repeated the question and he realized that he had heard her right.  Even after she explained that it was for a case, he couldn’t help but let his mind wander to what it would be like if she made an explicit call to him.  He quickly changed his train of thought when he realized that it would only get him in trouble.

 

He loved her sighs of frustration when a case wasn’t going good, as well as the sparks that came to her eyes when something went right.  Her esoteric knowledge still astounded him.  In fact, it almost got him in trouble when he warned her that he might ask her to marry him.  _What the hell was I thinking, saying that?  Geez!  Just because a woman knows something about football?  When am I gonna learn to keep my mouth shut.  I’m just thankful that she just blew it off._

 

When he thought about her being lost in the bombing, he still trembled.  Only the sound of her voice kept him sane from his worry about Flack.  He hoped that he provided something similar to her.  He was surprised and pleased when she asked him for a ride home.  He couldn’t help but still ask her in the hospital if she still wanted him to take her home.  His heart fluttered at her husky murmur yes.

 

\-----------------------------------------------

 

Sound or the lack of it was something that Lindsay had not thought about until she moved to New York.  After her first day in the city, she thought she was going to go mad at the constant sounds of the city.  Sound encompassed her night and day, relentlessly punishing her.  Her first night in the city, she did not sleep.  In Montana, she was used to the stillness, the quiet chirping of crickets cutting through the night to lull her to sleep. 

 

After her first week in the city, she was sleeping through the night a little.  She still woke up after about four hours.  _As least I get four hours._

 

Then she started her new job.  Never did she think that her restless nights would continue.

 

When she met Danny, she was shocked.  _His accent is atrocious!  Am I really supposed to be able to understand a word of what he is saying?  It’s like he is speaking another language!_

 

 Soon she learned to speak a little of his language.  That was due to the case with the kids that were subway surfing.  She still remembered the word.  Doot de doot.  That was the engineers name for the kids. She felt proud at that accomplishment, but did not understand why she looked forward to talking to him so much.

 

Soon after she started working with him, he began to call her Montana.  Every time he called her that, she cringed.  She hated the nickname.  _Why must he remind me at every turn that I’m an outsider?_

 

She decided that she was a big girl and that if he wanted to call her a nickname, even if she didn’t like it, she would shrug it off.  Then one day, he was acting all superior to her and she snapped.  He had kept going on about how he knew Mac better than her.  So she did a little research and found out that Mac played bass at a jazz club on Wednesday nights.  Smirking to herself, she decided to surprise Danny.  So she asked him out to the club.  She was no fool; she saw the look on his face when she issued the invitation.

 

When she got to Cozy’s, she was impressed by the atmosphere.  She chose a table in the middle of the room, so that she had both a good view of the stage and of the door.  When the waitress came to take her order she ordered a white wine for herself and a beer for Danny.

 

Her heart sped up at the sight of him walking into the club.  _Why do I have butterflies in my stomach?  This is not a date!  Come on, girl.  It’s not like you want to go out with a player like him!!_   She tried to calm her nerves and ran her hands down her pants.  She told him that she ordered him a beer. 

 

 _His voice is different tonight.  It’s sexier._   She was so caught up in his voice that she had forgotten about the reason that he was there.  Then she heard Mac’s voice on stage and mentally slapped herself upside her head.  She realized that she was in serious trouble, but couldn’t seem to stop herself.  She found herself sharing her previous life with him.  Telling him what it was like growing up in Montana.  She felt it was one of the best conversations that she had ever had with a guy.

 

She realized the next day that she was truly beginning to like him as a friend.  Even though she was beginning to think of him that way, she realized that she was still up for a challenge.  So when he bet Mac that she would not eat the bugs, she just had to prove him wrong.  She watched as he shook his head.  “What was I thinking, betting against a country girl?”  She grinned and giggled at his statement.

 

She got a chance to get him back.  She was completely puzzled about why any man would want to have phone sex with a complete stranger.  So she asked him.  She watched in pleasure as he turned an interesting shade of red.  Then he gave a clue to her case without meaning to.  “It’s about control.  It’s a fantasy.”

 

A month had passed.  She was working on the case of the dead body found at Kid Rock’s concert when she heard the call.  As she saw Mac take off at a dead run, she realized that it was Stella’s address.  She stood by helpless as she watched her friends go to help Stella.

 

She realized when she was in the interrogation, how well Danny had come to know her.  When she stormed out of the interrogation, upset with her inability to help Stella, he followed her.  He called her name, both calling her Lindsay and Montana.  After she refused to stop, he grabbed her arm.  She turned to him, looking deep into his eyes.  She barely remembered what he had said afterwards.  She just remembered that he was reassuring her, even though he did not know exactly why she was affected so strongly. 

 

Then came her toughest case.  When she found out that the woman dressed in the mermaid costume was from Montana, it brought back horrible memories.  She went down to the morgue to talk to Sid about her.  Sid pointed out the strange calluses on her hands.  Lindsay smiled as she explained about rawhide braiding.  “You don’t think that Danny calls me Montana because I’m a forty-niners fan, did you?”  She felt heat creep to her face as Sid said that Danny had a crush on her.

 

She mentally denied.  He was just a friend and colleague.  She realized that she was close to going over the edge with that case.  The perp would not tell her why he had chosen Sarah.  Again, Danny was there for her.  He tried to support her, telling her that you don’t always find the reason behind what the criminals do, but you catch them.  Both he and Mac told her to let it go.  She couldn’t. 

 

He followed her that night, when she left the building.  He looked in her eyes and the purpose hidden there.  Without a word, he grabbed her keys and silently told her that he would drive her to the jail.  She never understood why she heard what he was thinking, but was grateful that he was there for her.

 

Time passed for her.  Their friendship deepened.  Then her day from hell began.  It started out as a routine call.  She remembered Flack telling her about Sunday block parties.  She drank in the atmosphere of the music and people having fun.  Then the day turned to hell when the building exploded around her.  She remembered the glass and concrete flying towards her, the awful roar of the building being torn apart, then the awful stunned silence that the surrounding area seemed to be wrapped in.  In took her a couple of minutes to pick herself back up.  Then the awful noise came rushing back, only this time with people screaming and alarms going off.

 

Later that day, at the lab, Danny called her from the scene to let her know that he was sending her pictures.  She realized after he had hung up that he had called her Lindsay.  It touched her.  They talked on many occasions that day.  She knew that only he was keeping her sane from her worry over Flack.  She was babbling a little during a coffee break about how she did not want to take the subway home.  She never imagined that he would offer to drive her home, but she agreed.

 

She had almost forgotten about that conversation later that night.  She stood in the hospital, watching Flack’s chest rise and fall rhythmically, when he turned to her.  “Still want that ride?”


	3. Smell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own anything here but my own thoughts. Really, if I did do you think I would be sitting on my couch in Texas! All belongs to the fab people at CBS who bring us CSI:NY every week! I wish I was one of them!!!

** Chapter 3.  Smell **

 

_Smell.  To perceive the odor or scent of through the nose by means of the olfactory nerves; to inhale the odor of, to test by the sense of smell, to perceive, detect or discover by shrewdness or sagacity; to give off or have an odor or scent; to give out an offensive odor or scent; to have the appearance or suggestion of guilt or corruption._

 

 

Danny Messer appreciated his sense of smell enormously.  He sometimes thought of himself like a bloodhound when interrogating a suspect.  He could almost smell the fear coming off of them when presented with the evidence.  He picked up on the scent and ran with it, until he had a confession.

 

He loved the smells of New York, with the exception of the smell of garbage and decomp.  He put up with those smells for his job, wrinkling his nose and trying to breathe through his mouth to save himself from the unpleasant smells.

 

Most of all he appreciated the smell of a woman.  After all, he reasoned, every woman smelled differently and their differences were appreciated.  He smiled as he walked into the New York Zoo.  He noticed all the different women.  Tall, short, skinny, not so skinny.  He was a man who did appreciate women, no matter what size or shape.

 

On his mind as he walked was of the loss of one of his friends.  Aiden.  He knew he would miss her.  From her laugh, her sarcasm, to the light flowery scent of her hair after she washed it.  _Gawd.  I love the smell of her hair._

 

Mac had told him that her replacement was starting today and he was not looking forward to meeting them.  The closer he got to the tiger cage the smells of the zoo changed.  The smell of the animals was more prominent here.

 

He walked into the enclosure and after consulting with Mac began to photograph the scene.  When he saw the woman go up to Mac and realized that she was the new CSI, he decided to have a little fun with her.  As he walked up behind her, a scent wafted up to his nose.  It was fruity and he decided it was pleasant.  _I wonder if that’s her perfume.  It smells nice.  What the hell am I thinking!  This is the girl who is going to replace Aiden.  Bad thoughts, man.  Bad thoughts!_

 

Weeks went by.  Danny was starting to get worried when he realized that he could recognize her scent.  _What the hell am I doing?  No.  I’ve got to stop this madness now._   He tried to keep her out of his mind, but he found that she was popping up at unusual moments.  He always thought about her when he smelled fruit.  He didn’t understand the connection.

 

He was glad to get a break from his thoughts when he was called to a case at the San Gennaro festival.  He took a deep breath in as he walked in front of the stalls.  The smells of the food reminded him of home.  Sunday dinners with his family.  Smell is the one sense that will trigger memory the fastest.  It will trigger a memory without one even realizing it.

 

Danny was confused and excited when she asked him to meet her at Cozy’s.  He walked in and saw her sitting by herself at a table.  As he walked past her, he recognized the fruit smell that seemed to follow her around.  He inhaled deeply, his heart racing.

 

He thought that she smelled different that night.  A little sexier.  He swallowed, to try to calm his nerves, but it didn’t help.  After he realized why she had brought him there, he was a little disappointed.  He decided to take the time to enjoy the one time that opportunity gave him.

 

Weeks later, Danny realized that he was beginning to like her, really like her.  He passed her in a hallway. _She always smells so good?  How is that?  Even after dumpster diving, she still smells good?  Damn.  I’m in deep!_

 

When they were working the case about Sarah, he knew that she was having a hard time.  All of his senses told him this.  It was like he could smell her frustration.  He followed her after the interrogation of the killer.  She was pacing in their office, asking why he could do something like that.  Danny decided to try to comfort her, so he took her into his arms.

 

As she started into the comforting gesture, he caught a whiff of her shampoo.  _So that’s the fruity smell that I associate with her.  It smells good._   He was reluctant to let her go, enjoying their time together.

 

Danny smirked inwardly.  He knew that he was addicted to trading words with her, but now he realized that his subconscious was addicted to her smell.  He decided to back off.  To try to be a friend.  He thought that he didn’t have a chance with her.

 

Finally, his choice was taken away from him.  When he heard about the bomb, his heart stopped.  When he arrived at the scene, all he could smell was acrid smoke.  The smell of fires burning, God only knows what.  He heart was racing until he found her.  Unbelievable, he could almost smell the fear and desperation coming off her as she tried to reach Mac.

 

He tried to get her to recognize the fact that she, too, was hurt.  He leaned in close, smelling the smell of smoke coming off her clothes.  He tried to shut down his emotions while working on that case.  He knew that emotions would overwhelm him, if he thought about how close he had come to losing her.  Gallantly, he offered her a ride home. He felt he had to.  _It’s the least I can do for the person who kept me from going insane with worry._

 

As they walked out of the hospital, he put his hand on the small of her back, to guide her to his car.  He smirked when he caught the familiar smell of her shampoo.  _I know I’m making the right decision.  It’s time to make the first step._

 

\-------------------------------------------------

 

Smell, Lindsay realized was the one thing that would overwhelm her if she thought about it.  After her first week in the city, she realized that she missed the smells of home.  The scent of the flowers, fresh cut grass, even the smells of the horses and cattle on her parent’s ranch.

 

When she got to her first case, it was almost like home.  She breathed in deeply, drawing comfort and strength from the familiar smell of the animals.  That was the one thing that helped her get through the day.  Especially after the prank that Danny had played on her.  She tried to calm herself down and the familiar smell helped her.

 

Only a short time later, she got a chance to show how science can fool senses.  When she looked at the results, she decided that she had to try to new gel herself.  So she smeared the gel under her nose.  Drawing a breath, she waived an open bottle of hydrogen sulfide under her nose.  She was amazed when it smelled like vanilla.  _Man, I wish I had some of this around when I have to dumpster dive.  That would make my life so much easier!!_   Feeling smug, she walked into Mac’s office to perform the experiment on him.

 

A couple of cases later, she was assigned with Danny again.  When they were walking into the doll hospital, she caught a whiff of his cologne.  Smiling to herself she decided it was sexy.  _He doesn’t smell like the guys at home.  They’re all about the smell of hard work and leather.  That is sexy though.  Danny’s smell differently.  Still kinda sexy, though._

 

After she had invited him to Cozy’s, she had paused at her locker, debating whether or not to wear perfume.  She finally decided to dab a little bit of perfume on her wrists.  As she made her way to the club, she was silently debating with herself.  _Why did I put perfume on?  This isn’t a date?  What the hell am I doing?  Girl, get a grip on yourself!_

 

When he walked by her, she almost sighed in pleasure.  The cologne he was wearing teased her senses.  _Wow.  He just smells…wow._   She tried to bring her mind about to the reason that she had asked him there, but it took a couple of minutes for her brain to process her thoughts.

 

He walked her home that night.  She decided it was sweet.  He didn’t put his arm around her, as if they were on a date, but the closeness of him made her very familiar with his scent. 

 

Over the next few weeks, she realized that she was putting more effort into getting ready for work.  She always made sure that she put on some perfume and her make-up looked just right.  _What the hell am I doing?  Am I trying to impress Messer?  I don’t get it.  Linds.  Ya got to get over it.  He is so far outta your league that you are in two different galaxies!_

 

It didn’t help matters when she asked him to help reconstruct her crime scene.  She drew in his scent like it was baking bread when he carried her across the dirt.  When he put her back on the ground, she was almost a little lightheaded from the deep breaths she had been taking.

 

She finally admitted defeat the day the building exploded.  When she saw Danny, she had to stop from throwing her arms around him, just to breathe in the comforting smell of him.  She was so focused on him, that she almost didn’t hear him point out the fact that she was bleeding.  She drew strength from him.  He was the reason she didn’t go insane with worry.

 

As she walked out of the hospital, in front of him, she questioned her actions.  _Am I ready for this?  Am I making the right decision?_

 


	4. Touch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own anything here but my own thoughts. Really, if I did do you think I would be sitting on my couch in Texas! All belongs to the fab people at CBS who bring us CSI:NY every week! I wish I was one of them!!!

** Chapter 4.  Touch **

 

_Touch.  To put the hand, finger, etc on or into contact with something to feel it. To come up to, to reach or attain.  To attain equality with.  To affect as if by contact or with some feeling or emotion.  To handle, use or have to do with in any way.  To eat or drink; consume; taste.  To refer or allude to.  To be a matter of importance to; make a difference to. A mental or moral perception, sensitivity or understanding. Close communication, agreement or sympathy. To mention a subject briefly or casually._

 

 

Danny had thought a lot about touch, since he met Lindsay.  His mind worked around how he felt about her.  The fact that his thoughts were so occupied by her was enough to having him breaking his rather heated train of thought.  _When did this happen.  How did she touch my life so much, that I can’t stop thinking about her?  About what it would be like to really touch her, both physically and emotionally?  What has happened to me?_

 

Silently, as he drove away from the hospital, he tried to remember just how it happened.

 

Soon after they had met, he remembers shaking her hand and being surprised at her firm touch.  It was a business like handshake, like anyone would give.  Why, he wonders, does it send shivers up his spine?

 

He couldn’t resist taking her hand outside of the doll hospital.  This time, touching her hand was different.  The electricity was there, but she seemed reluctant.  He couldn’t help but ask if she wanted to have lunch.  He was disappointed when she pulled herself out of reach.  _What am I doing?_

 

Then his nightmare came to life.  He was trapped in a panic room.  He thought about her.  The different ways that she had touched his life.  Her compassion, her intelligence, her fire.  She helped his survive that day, even though he never told her.

 

When he found the body on the subway, he was touched by her beauty when she walked up.  He couldn’t help but smirk and say, “Well, hello Miss Monroe.”  He caught the glint in her eyes as she smirked back to him and had to restrain himself from touching her cheek.  That made him stop.  _Dude.  You’ve gotta back off.  She ain’t ever given you any sign that she wants to go farther than being coworkers._

 

The next case that he drew, he worked with her.  He was again touched and astounded by the level of professionalism that she exuded.  He admired her ability to work on a case, to search for answers.  The she asked him out.  He couldn’t believe what he had heard, but agreed to meet her at the club.  Then her insight truly astounded him.  _How did she know about Mac and I didn’t?  Why didn’t I see it before?_

He knew that they had grown closer after that night.  It was about a month later, when they were working different cases when she again astounded him.  He had heard about her case.  A woman found dead in a water tower.  She suspected that the doctor had something to do with.

 

When he came back from whipping some kid’s butt at handball to get info for his case, he was exhausted.  She caught him in the locker room, getting dressed after taking a shower.  He was touched when she asked him to help her recreate the scene.  He had no idea what he was in for when she asked him.

 

When they got to the building and on top of the room, she told him her plan.  _Ya gotta be kidding me?  She wants me to carry her?_   Easily he lifted her in his arms.  _She feels so right here.  I don’t want to let her go._  He decided to crack a joke to cover his nervousness.  She laughed and told him to make tracks.

 

He tried to back off, but life decided to conspire against him.  Scant weeks later, a body was discovered in Giants stadium.  He had his suspicions about who it was, but decided to keep quiet about it.  Until she showed him the results.  She touched in heart in so many ways that day.  From keeping quiet about the results until she had asked him about it, to bringing the tape to the hospital to show him how Louie protected him all those years ago.  He felt his resolve wavering.

 

Then Aiden was killed.  He looked into her eyes at the memorial service, seeing regret and sadness there.  _Why does she feel sad?  Aiden never touched her life like she touched the rest of us?  Why does_ _Montana_ _feel so deeply?_

 

Questions like that were becoming commonplace in his mind.  He noticed how she touched everyone around her with her cheerfulness, her drive to be perfect.  _How come she doesn’t allow anyone to touch her?_  

 

He kept trying to figure her out, to find out why she touched him but he couldn’t seem to touch her.  He knew that she knew all of his secrets yet she seemed scared to act on the feelings which he knew were mutual.

 

Then the walls, both metaphorical and actual, came tumbling down.  When he reached the scene of the explosion he felt himself drawn to her.  He touched her arm, her head where she was cut to assure himself that she was okay; that she was not badly injured.

 

When he saw Flack being carried out on a stretcher, it was her touch on his arm that kept him from putting his fist through the wall.  She brought him back to reality and for that he was grateful.

 

Later, at the hospital, he longed to pull her into his arms.  To feel her small body against his.  To bring both of them comfort.  With a smile, he thought about the drive home.  He left his hand on the small of her back while they were walking to his car.  The electricity was shooting up his arm.

 

When they got to the car, he gave up his internal fight and pulled her into his arms.  He buried his head in her hair, both giving and taking support from the feel of her skin.  He felt her shaking in his arms, his jacket growing wet with tears.  He fought his own tears off.  _I came so close to losing her without her ever knowing how I felt.  I can’t wait any longer.  I have to come clean._

He pulled back slightly, gently wiping the tears from her face.  “Lindsay?  We need to talk.”

 

\-------------------------------------------------

 

Touch, Lindsay knew, was the one sense that can help you learn.  Babies learn by touch before anything else.  Children learn what to touch and what not to touch by experience.  Adults do the same things.  When she moved to New York, she vowed never to let a man touch her life like Frank had.

 

Frank had said all the right things.  He wormed his way into her heart then in a single sentence shattered it to pieces.  She still remembered the day when he said that he didn’t love her.  That he couldn’t love someone who always chased after the bad guy.  It was just lucky that the job offer had come mere days after they had broken up.   She ran away from her pain.  Tried to lose herself.  She knew that it was impossible once she met Danny.

 

From the beginning she realized that he could touch her in ways that no person ever had.  First it was just annoyance.  Then it was his dedication to his job.  Then she realized that his self confidant smirk touched, no battered the walls she had put up.

 

Her first inkling that he was different was when he held her hand outside of the doll hospital.  She was surprised that she did not have blisters from where their hands had touch.  _That was electrifying.  It scares me.  I can’t go through that again._

 

The lab gossips didn’t do any good.  From what she had heard, he was a player.  Yet his compassion still touched her.  She smiled to herself when she heard that she was going to make sure that the rich restaurant owner paid for murdering the fish seller that just wanted to give his kid a chance.

 

When she heard that he was trapped in the panic room, his tenacity was what touched her this time.  Trapped in the room, losing oxygen yet still trying to process the scene and find a killer.  She had real admiration for him after that case.

 

She found herself daydreaming about him.  _What the hell are you doing?  Why are you thinking about him like this?  Look where it got you last time.  That’s it, girl.  Time to find a distraction._

 

She was successful for all of a week.  Then she walked into the subway and saw him and Mac processing a dead body.  This was when she realized how dedicated he was.  Dedication was a good way to gain her respect.

 

She was still struck by how much of a father-son relationship that he and Mac had.  She knew there was a deep bond there.  She knew that he thought that she knew Mac better than she did.  In many ways he was right.   _But he doesn’t have to act so damn superior about it!_

 

She found away to try to wipe the smug grin off of his face.  She took him to Cozy’s.  After he had realized it was about Mac, he was good natured about her ‘I told you so.’  When they walked home that night, she wondered what it would feel like if he put his arm around her.  _Stop thinking about that girl, stop thinking about it!_

 

About a month later, she got a chance to see what it felt like to be held by him.  She couldn’t resist.  She could have asked any other guy in the lab to help her, but she chose him.  She didn’t want to admit the reason to herself.  She wanted, no she needed to feel what being in his arms would be like.

 

As he easily picked her up, her breath hitched in her lungs.  _Wow.  This is…Wow._   She was lost in the feeling until he made the joke about buying him dinner.  She just smiled sweetly and said, “Make tracks, Cowboy.”  When he chuckled, she could feel the vibrations from his chest.

 

Then the world seemed to fall apart.  She started at the DNA results.  _How could I have been so wrong about him?  This can’t be right._   Later that night, she watched him as he listened to the tape.  That was when she realized that she was losing her battle with her feelings.  She didn’t know if he knew exactly how touched she was when he blindly took her handed when listening.  She knew that he loved his brother very much and it was touching to see him talking to him.  Even if Louie was in a coma.  Little did she know that her presence was comforting to him.

 

A mere week later, she realized that he had a chance to repay her for her kindness.  She was having a hard time dealing with the fact that Stella had been attacked.  She had her reasons, reasons that no one else knew about why she was so affected.  She looked into his eyes as he tried to comfort her.  Telling her that Stella would want them to close the Russo case.  She sighed.  He was right.

 

Then her nightmare came true.  The young woman, Sarah, from Montana was just killed for no reason.  His willingness to act as her sounding board touched her deeply.  Just once, she wanted to give in to impulse and take the physical comfort that he would provide.  _It wouldn’t be so bad.  To be held in his arms._   That thought soon led to more heated thoughts and she shook her head.  _Girl, just yank the reins in another direction.  That is the path to heartache._

 

Then her world crumbled.  She was in shock outside of the smoldering building.  Staring at the ruins, still feeling the explosion in her bones.  When he walked up, it took all of her self control not to through herself into his arms.  She needed the comfort, but still could let herself crumble.

 

When Flack was carried out of the building on a stretcher, she saw the anger and rage on his face.  She knew that he was about to explode.  She put a comforting hand on his arm.  To let him know that she was there for him.

 

When she went to the hospital with the rest of the team after the bomber had been caught, she knew that the walls around her heart had been blown away as well.  She followed him into the hall outside of Flack’s bedroom.  As she stood, looking at Flack she made a decision.  _What if that had been me?  What if that had been Danny instead of Flack?  Would he even know how much he had touched my life?  How he made me feel whole again?  I need to tell him how I feel._

 

She longed to through herself into his arms after seeing Flack, but controlled herself in front of the rest of the team.  She felt in hand at the small of her back, guiding her to his car.  When they got there, they just stood for a moment.  Then her jaw almost dropped in amazement as he dragged her into his arms.  Feeling his arms around her, feeling his giving her strength brought the last of the walls down.

 

She broke down.  She began to cry uncontrollably.  She felt his hands stroking her hair, running up and down her back giving her comfort.  He was shaking, too.  She knew that and knew that this was as much of a release for him as it was for her.  Reluctantly she felt him pull away after she had stopped her tears.

 

“Lindsay?  We need to talk.”

 

She nodded her head.  She gave him a watery smile.  “Yes, we do.  But not here.  Would you like to come up to my apartment when we get there?” 

 

He nodded his assent and they both got in the car for the drive to her place.


	5. Taste

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don’t own anything here but my own thoughts. Really, if I did do you think I would be sitting on my couch in Texas! All belongs to the fab people at CBS who bring us CSI:NY every week! I wish I was one of them!!!
> 
> AN: Okay, I also do not own, “Lips Like Morphine” by Kill Hannah. If you haven’t heard that song….Go listen to it as soon as possible. It really fits with the way the chapter ended up!! Please read and review…

** Chapter 5.  Taste **

 

_Taste. To try or test the flavor or quality of something by taking some into the mouth.  To perceive or distinguish the flavor of.  To have or get experience. To perceive in any way.  To enjoy or appreciate. To have a particular flavor.  To smack or savor. A relish, liking or partiality for something.  The sense of what is seemly, polite, tactful.  One’s personal attitude or reaction toward an aesthetic phenomenon or social situation._

 

 

Danny and Lindsay arrived at her apartment and just sat in the car.

 

“So.”  Danny turned to look at Lindsay.

 

“So.”  Lindsay turned to look at him.  They both just sat there, not saying a word, the same thought running through their heads.  _How did I end up here, thinking about how sweet a possible kiss could taste?_

 

\---------------------------------------------------

 

Taste occupied Danny’s thoughts day and night.  He couldn’t stop imagining how her lips would taste if he kissed her.  His mind screeched to a halt.  _How does she taste?  I’ve know the woman for all of a day and I’m already imagining how she would taste when I kiss her?  Man, you’ve been without any nighttime activities way too long.  Maybe, I should call up…Gawd, what’s her name?  Come on man.  Think!!  You dated her for two months!!  Shit.  Damn it….Um…Stacy?  Or was it_ _Tracy_ _?  Whatever.  The point is you need a woman.  A man has needs.  You just haven’t fulfilled yours in a while.  That’s the only reason you are having these thoughts.  They’ll go away._

 

Danny shook his head to clear his thoughts, trying to focus on processing the evidence in front of him.  He stared at the tape in front of him.  Studying the evidence.  Eventually he got control over his thoughts again.  Until she walked into the room.  He drank in the sight, sound and smell of her.  His mind began racing towards the thoughts of her lips.

 

He briefly wondered about how her lips would affect time.  What would he taste on them?  Then he mentally slapped himself upside the head.  _That’s it.  I’m going to see if Flack wants to go out tonight.  I obviously need to meet a new woman._

 

A month passed and Danny had managed to keep from thinking about her lips.  Then she surprised him with the night at Cozy’s.  That night his senses threatened to short circuit from the stimulation that they were getting.  And he began to fantasize about her lips again.  He watched her drink her wine, then that girly drink that was served with a straw.  He watched her lips gently purse around the straw.  _That is one lucky straw._   He realized what he had just thought about and kicked himself.  _Don’t go there, man. Don’t go there!_

 

He walked her home, trying to suppress his erotic thoughts about her lips and a straw.  When he walked her up to her apartment door, he debated to himself about seeing if he could kiss her goodnight.  Before the decision had been made, she was in her apartment and he was staring at a door.  Sighing in disgust at himself, he made his way home.

 

His mind kept going over the night in his head, on his way home.  He tried to turn his thoughts away, thinking about the taste of anything but her lips.  _That’s it.  The bugs.  Gawd, those were disgusting.  And Hawkes didn’t help by asking if it tasted like chicken.  Nope.  Why in the world would rich people pay so much to eat…Bugs???  Eww._

 

Those thoughts help to quelling the rising obsession he was having with her lips.  When he got up the next morning, he had managed not to think about her. 

 

The next month passed in relative easiness.  He had managed to control his thoughts when around her, although he did find himself having to leave the room whenever she chewed on a pen.  The only glitch that he could see of turning away his thoughts was when she asked him to carry her across the sand.  He had to turn his brain off at that point.  It was just too good even contemplate.

 

He found that he had not defeated his feelings; he had just repressed them.  They all came rushing back full force.  _Damn.  She’s a colleague.  I work with her.  I can’t feel this way.  What the hell am I supposed to do?_

 

The decision was taken out of his hands the day that Flack was hurt.  As he strode onto the scene, the only thoughts in his head were of her safety.  _If she is hurt, I’ll never forgive myself.  I can’t lose someone else.  I can’t._

 

So he made sure that he could take her home, after shift.  Now he sat in his car, staring into her wise chocolate eyes, realizing that the emotions he was feeling was being reflected back at him.  Stunned he took a breath and prepared to admit his feelings.

 

\--------------------------------------------------

 

Taste was the one sense that Lindsay did not dwell on.  After all, it was common.  You used it everyday.  That was until she met Danny. 

 

After she had gotten over her initial shock of being on the receiving end of his ‘hazing’, she found him occupying her thoughts.  _This is wrong.  You’ve taken this path before, it led to heartache.  Let it go._

 

Her brain commanded, but her heart refused to listen.  She found herself wishing for a glimpse of his smile.  The cute way he licked the corner of his mouth when he was smirking.  _God.  That drives me crazy.  It makes me think about what his lips would taste like.   Would his kiss taste different than a guy from_ _Montana_ _?  Hmm.  That’s a good question.  To bad I’m too much of a professional to try it out._

 

She tried to banish thoughts of him from her mind, but her dreams were another matter.  Lindsay groaned when she woke up thinking about how his kisses would taste.  She could imagine her lips traveling over his body, tasting him and bringing him pleasure.  _Stop right there!_   She tried to command her brain, but it only obeyed her while she was awake.

 

It helped when she took his dare to eat the bugs.  “What?  It’s just protein.”  She grimaced inwardly as she took the first bite of the deep fried spider.  _So it is true.  Things really do taste better deep fried.  Definitely will have to keep that in mind._

 

She felt them growing closer and her thoughts turning more erotic and her dreams were such to make a porn star blush.  She just couldn’t keep the idea out of her mind.

 

When she showed him the results of the DNA test from the cigarette, she could almost taste his fear and anger.  She didn’t understand why, but she knew that something was truly wrong.  So she pushed her own desires to the background and concentrated on clearing his name.

 

Finally, the day that changed her life happened.  She could taste a little blood on her lip and that combined with the taste of the bile rising in the back of her throat at the sight of the destruction was almost her undoing.  She turned off her emotions and struggled to stay a professional.  Her only thought after that day was that she could not deny what was growing between them.  She had to confront it.  She had to tell him how she felt and hoped that he returned her feelings.

 

As she sat in the car, she turned to him and looked deep into his blue eyes.  She felt a wave of relief pass though her when she saw her feeling reflected in his eyes.  She could taste victory and she opened her mouth, to hopefully try to confess her feelings.

 

\-------------------------------------------------

 

“So.”

 

“So.”

 

“Um.  Lindsay?”

 

Lindsay bit her lip and decided to take the plunge.  “Danny?  Would you like to come up to my apartment?”

 

Danny nodded.  “Yeah.”

 

They got out of the car and silently walked up to her apartment.  When they got inside, Danny looked around.  It was a very comfortable apartment.  Stylish, yet homey.  “You have good taste.  Maybe you should decorate my apartment.  I’ve lived there for five years and haven’t done half of what you’ve done in your place.”

 

Lindsay smiled at the compliment and went to turn her stereo on.  “Thanks.  I just made it feel like home.”

 

Danny was amazed when he heard the alternative rock coming from the speakers.  He recognized the song that was playing.  It was _Lips Like Morphine_ by Kill Hannah.  He listened to the chorus.  _“Cuz I’ve waited here for all my life; to be here with you tonight.”_

 

He smiled.  The song fit.  He was tired of waiting.  He just grabbed her hand and pulled her to his body.  He bent his head and pressed his lips against her.  He groaned.  She tasted just like he had imagined.  Fresh and a little like strawberries.  He deepened the kiss.  He tongue demanded entry into her mouth.  She complied and Danny’s brain shut down at the pleasure he was feeling.

 

Lindsay was a little shocked when Danny pulled her to him.  When his lips descended on hers she only had one thought in here head.  _He tastes better than the guys back home.  God, I’m in so much trouble._   When he deepened the kiss and began to plunder her mouth, her toes curled in desire.

 

Alarms went off in her brain.  She pulled back.  “Wait.  Danny?  I don’t know if I can do this.”

 

He looked at her in shock.  He had never felt the feelings that were roaming through his body and was pretty sure that neither had she.  “What do mean that you can’t do this?  That was perfect Lindsay.  Why?”

 

Lindsay felt tears come to her eyes.  She didn’t want to hurt him.  “I just…I think it’s best that you leave.”

 

Danny shook his head.  “No.  I’m not leaving.  I’m not abandoning what we have without a damn good reason.”

 

Lindsay looked at the steely glint in his eyes and felt the last barriers she had erected come crashing down.  “I don’t deserve you.  I’m definitely not in your league, Messer.  You deserve someone better than me.”

 

Danny felt his anger fade and her softly spoken words.  “That’s crap and you know it, Montana.  If anything, I don’t deserve you.  Why would you think something like that?”

 

Lindsay turned around and walked to her couch.  Tiredly she sat down and stared at her hands.  The tears began to roll down her face as she thought about Frank.

 

Danny watched her and realized that she was crying.  He walked over to her and gently made her look into his eyes.  “Lindsay, please.  What’s wrong?  Why don’t you feel like you’re not the best thing that has ever happened to me?  Huh?  If not for you, I would have given up on life a long time ago.  So I don’t want to hear you say that you are not good enough for me.  That’s crap!”

 

Lindsay looked up at him.  “You’re wrong.  You would have been fine.  Why would anyone want to be with me?  I work crazy hours.  I’m obsessed with doing a perfect job.  I’m not a good girlfriend.  Trust me.  If you want I can give you the testimonials to prove it.”  She shook her head and looked away form him.  She muttered under her breath, “Frank was right about me.  I’m destined to be alone.”

 

“Who is Frank?”

 

Lindsay jerked her head back at that point.  “You heard that?”  Danny just stared at her, waiting for an answer.  She rolled her eyes.  “Fine.  Frank is my ex-fiancé.  He dumped me rather spectacularly.  Basically he said that I was an emotional eunuch and no man would ever love me.”  Lindsay felt a little rage creep into her voice.  “The bastard had been cheating on me with my best friend for four months.”

 

Danny had a brief thought that it was a good thing that this Frank guy was not around.  He didn’t trust himself not to break his kneecaps.  “Lindsay?  He’s wrong.  You’re perfect the way you are.  We all have our battle scars, but he obviously didn’t know what to do about an independent woman who could probably take him down in a fight.”

 

He saw the disbelief in her eyes and responded the only way he knew how.  He kissed her again.  He felt relief when he felt the tension leave her body.  “Montana, I have serious feelings for you.  Do you feel the same way?”

 

Lindsay looked at Danny.  She felt whole for the first time in almost a year.  She knew that the heat that they generated when together had burned the doubts from her brain.  “Yes, Danny.  I do.  I’ve wanted to do this with you since the first day I saw you.  I’m sorry for being stupid.”

 

“We were stupid together.  I think that’s enough talking right now.” 

 

Lindsay smiled as she tasted his lips on hers again.  They both had the same thought running through their heads.  _Oh, yes.  I can get used to this._

_Fini._


End file.
